Deegee

iTrader: (1)

Guys so I was lowering my coils this afternoon and I noticed the bolt that goes through the front OEM strut bar would keep turning while trying to remove the nut on one end.

This bolt goes directly through the front OEM strut bar and into the link that is connected to the lower control arm (passenger side). Typically you should be able to break this nut (like i did on the driver side) just by using a 17MM socket, but the nut kept turning as well as the bolt.

Whats worse is that the nut cannot be tightened or loosened so there is some threads on each side of the nut and bolt that should be tightened and sandwhiched together



Here is the nut that keeps turning the whole bolt



Here is a pic of the other side, notice the gap between the washer and the strut bar. No matter how much I turn the nut on the opposite side, it never tightens together. I've also tried to put a set of pliers to hold the bolt between the washer and the link while trying to tighten the nut but the bolt continue to turn because there is some grease or leak from that link making it impossible to secure pliers and hold the bolt in place while tightening the nut.



Here's another image showing the gap between the washer and the strut bar and the grease from the link.

Sorry for the quality pics, I can get some better ones tomorrow when the sun comes out.

I've tried to take off the nut and also tighten it without any luck, so I'm not too concerned with the nut falling off while driving, I'm trying to figure out how I can tighten the nut so the bolt doesn't freely move in and out of the link.

Maybe I need to replace the whole end link on the passenger side? How can I tighten the nut if this is stripped and keeps turning?

jbjones85

iTrader: (20)

i seem to remember when I removed mine that there was an allan key slot at the end of the bolt (nut side) that you need to put in there to keep it from spinning when trying to remove.

Raybean

iTrader: (3)

i believe if you put a wench on the other side of the bolt it will hold it in place so you can remove that bolt. otherwise your going have to cut it off and get new links.

Deegee

iTrader: (1)

EDIT:

OH wait, the lower part of the link HAS the allen key slot, the top one does not as you can see (pic 2) it's just in a dome where the bolt goes directly in it through the strut bar and followed by a nut. Unless you can expose the "dome" part and perhaps theres an allen key slot there that can be grabbed.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Either way you remove it, that end link will need to be replaced. You've got two options :

1) Using a pry bar or something that will give you ALOT of leverage, place it in between the backside of the sway bar and end link and apply leverage between the two components while removing the nut.
2) Use a rotary tool (Dremel) with a cut-off wheel and cut that bolt in half.

I had the EXACT same issue with my end links on my IS350 when upgrading to an F-sport rear sway bar, Had to replace both end links.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

sounds like you may have the issue resolved now. That's a sway bar btw.